I've been impressed by Brunner so far this year, he seems to be a fairly complete player and has been defensively responsible as well as lighting the lamp on a consistent basis. I was worried that he would be another Brunnstrom and not live up to the hype of having had success in an overseas league but I've been pleasantly surprised.

His six goals so far leads all rookies, which bring me to my question of his eligibility for the Calder. I know the NHL put in the Makarov rule the year he won it but I'm not sure what the age restriction was? Brunner was born in 1986 so that would make him 27, is that too old to win the Calder award?

What does everyone think Brunner's ceiling is after seeing him for about a quarter of the season? I would not be surprised to see him score over 30 in a regular 82 game season, especially if he stays on Z's line. I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit 20 this in this abreviated season even.

Also, that got me thinking about who the last Red Wing to win the Calder was? I remember Barasso beating out Stevie Y in his rookie season, Feds scoring 31 in his rookie season but Eddie the Eagle "If you had a million dollars would you let me go" Belfour beating him out that year and Barret Jackass, er, Jackman being selected over Z in his rookie year (possibly the worst ever Calder selection) so, without running to Google, who can tell me the last Wing to win the Calder?

"And? If I did, I probably would have been a fighter, so what?"

Who knows; maybe you would realize that enforcers in hockey are critical to a teams chemistry and overall success?

Brunner leads all first-year players in goals, but he does not qualify
for the Calder Trophy as top rookie because he played in more than six
games in two previous seasons in what the NHL classifies as a major
professional league.

I hate to be bold, and this opinion is definitely based on the fact that he continues to play with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but Brunner looks like a 30 goal scorer right now (for an 82 game season anyway) and this is still his first year....Knock on wood but if this kid settles in more than he has already could he turn out to be a potential 35, maybe even 40 goal scorer? Right now it seems possible, but I think he may lack the size to ever compete at that level. He certainly has the skill though.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

I hate to be bold, and this opinion is definitely based on the fact that he continues to play with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but Brunner looks like a 30 goal scorer right now (for an 82 game season anyway) and this is still his first year....Knock on wood but if this kid settles in more than he has already could he turn out to be a potential 35, maybe even 40 goal scorer? Right now it seems possible, but I think he may lack the size to ever compete at that level. He certainly has the skill though.

Give him time to adjust to the physicality and NA game. He'll adapt. All great players do.